Is realizing when you have been marked to go no higher. You are left with this identity crisis because the status you thought you had is actually just an illusion. You try to advance and you get nowhere. You take on the most complex tasks, are consistently highly rated, and still no momentum. For those that are in this situation, how did you ultimately react, how did you navigate this situation?
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FMC will bend you over in the end. Get out now! If you can't for whatever reason, do just enough not to get fired; and know that the little ford icon next to the windows key is tracking you, tracking what applications you run, who you email, etc. Your performance review will be the same, whether you are a great team player or a scab, everyone gets the same because you missed your overly high objectives because the company is milking ford blue while taking huge losses on model e. Find a second job now. Do what you can to bring in money. Yes them out the door and deliver nothing, just like the executives practice. When you fall short, blame the media and consumers, never take any accountability for anything at all, its not your fault!! right Jim!
Happily Retired (Nov 2022) senior engineer here. Learned years ago the LL6 and above life was not worth it to me, the dollar/effort/BS ratio was not to my liking.
It’s better to be a higher performing GSR than average LL6. That’s what I feared, not su-king up enough as an LL6, being stuck between cr-ppy GSRs and cr-ppy upper LL’s.
If young enough get out. You’ve read enough on here to already know that. If not the find a cushy job where your knowledge is valued, you have minimal hours and job security. In essence you’ll be giving yourself a raise in terms of $/hr. Then get a side hustle or just enjoy the time.
Every day you and your employer agree for you to be employed there…..remember that..you also agree to where you are placed.. if you don’t agree change it….remember that when your employer doesn’t agree it will be changed.
A time for reflection and decisions. I chose to stay and because I wasn’t concerned about advancing, I could concentrate on what was important. I left ford as an LL6 for 21 years. Got retirement and saved some money. Not a bad decision. Took a new job in retirement, was quickly promoted to Director and ran an engineering department with 163 individuals. Just because ford doesn’t see your value doesn’t mean your not capable.
The most painful realization for the average person to accept is that they are, indeed, average.
I enjoyed flying under the radar for years. Got my job done and was paid a fair wage.
I took all my vacation days, made sure comp time was used. I figured I was not going to lose any money on this deal.
I could have had a side hustle but I really did not need it. I drove older vehicles, lived in a reasonable home and saved every penny the government would allow plus college for 2 kids. I now have over $3 mil in retirement, house paid for and living in an area that does not require weekend getaways.
I picked up some volunteer jobs and some side hustles for pocket money.
Sure work was stressful at times... but I was in a good team that pulled together when needed and took time to coast when things settled down.
I looked at supervisor roles early in my career but they just did not seem worth the hassle.
"When you finally realize you have a job and not a career you have three options...."
It's a game everyone plays (some try to say or appear as though they don't..but they are). The general goal is to do as least as possible for the most money possible. Businesses want to pay you as low as they can for the most work possible. It's called "value". If you are bringing more value then you are paid for you are simply losing the game and someone else is winning. That's it. #3 on this post is where it's at. Don;t get all romantic about what the business relationship is. It's a game of value. Play it or be played.
When you finally realize you have a job and not a career you have three options.
- Find a new job (only way to get promoted) that respects your ability.
- Except you only have a job and will be a worker making other look good and get promoted.
- Treat Ford like a cash cow, stop trying to get promoted, do only what is needed to not get terminated. Find a low stress hard to outsource job. Find a side hustle and make money. Lean to invest your money to grow it faster. Enjoy not working overtime or weekends and spending quality time with family and friends. Take all your vacation, personal days, etc.
FYI, If you are not an LL5 by 35 you do not have a career or future at Ford.
Move to another company and rise up the management chain and flourish. Just because one section of Ford is not a good fit, doesn’t mean you are a failure. Start interviewing at other companies and apply for jobs at least 1 level above where you are now.
Look at your management team. If you respect them, I suspect you probably have a problem. If you don't respect them, you should not take their opinion of you so seriously. That doesn't change the fact that you're probably in a dead end job as long as you work them, but it does suggest they probably aren't someone you should place a whole lot of stock in their assessment of you.
You need a life. It's stuff that happens to you while you're waiting for moments that never come.
ford is a dead end for tech people. they value budget and headcount abilities over all. they like tech buzzword guys like hackett ceo.
I decided to give myself a promotion/raise and created side hustles.
As a manager of the past 30 years, Typically someone in this situation doesn’t actually hear the feedback they get. It is possible to perform well but also not be suitable for further advancement. I’ve had employees who wrote excellent code and were very productive, but they could not demonstrate working through others or dealing with the bigger picture in projects. I would give this feedback with examples and things to work on but he just kept saying “I am your best coder, why are you holding me back”
It took realizing the important things in life are not found at work.
Not been in that situation myself, but in my 3 decades at Ford, I saw others. They left and often did quite well.ee
I just unleash all my revenge in vengeful mode (of course in a legal manner):
turning all rocks, bo----g everything, setting everything on fire, and chocking everything that moves.
Afterwards, even the evil will be exhausted and too tired to do more harm. so peace comes.